{"id":150044,"date":"2025-09-17T15:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T15:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/150044\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T15:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T15:41:09","slug":"anima-vitae-follows-niko-with-eek-ghosts-trash-monsters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/150044\/","title":{"rendered":"Anima Vitae Follows ‘Niko’ With ‘Eek! Ghosts!,’ ‘Trash Monsters’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFinnish animation studio Anima Vitae<\/a> ain\u2019t afraid of no ghosts. Or monsters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe company behind the successful trilogy about Niko the Reindeer \u2013 \u201cNiko \u2013 Beyond the Northern Lights\u201d<\/a> sold almost 3 million tickets globally \u2013 is developing 3D animations \u201cEek! Ghosts!\u201d and \u201cTrash Monsters<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on beloved books by Mauri Kunnas, \u201cEek! Ghosts!\u201d follows two trick-or-treating kids who end up at a party hosted by actual ghosts and monsters.\u00a0Oops.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFamilies love these stories because of their warmth and humor in them. The original IP is really strong \u2013 the books have been read by many generations in Finland, Europe and even in Japan,\u201d said Anima Vitae\u2019s CEO Antti Haikala.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tPaying respect to Kunnas\u2019 \u201crich illustrations,\u201d full of little details and jokes, proved challenging at first.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt has taken a while to transform this into animation. We\u2019ve been working with Mauri on multiple shorter projects now and we\u2019ve found a way to bring the spirit of the books into films, and to capture the spark of his original work.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHaikala added: \u201cCreating \u2018safe excitement\u2019 for families and telling meaningful stories is key, and Mauri\u2019s stories already have these attributes. They can be just silly, but they often examine how instead of being scared you can actually learn something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSame can be said for \u201cTrash Monsters,\u201d also looming on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the film, a girl accidentally creates a monster out of trash. Soon, she befriends him and can lean on him also when facing big dangers on her grandmother\u2019s island \u2013 one that\u2019s on the verge of ecological catastrophe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe would like to find partners from south-east Asia as the story is located in that region,\u201d he stressed. An original story, \u201cTrash Monsters\u201d comes from Australian writer-producer Joseph Taylor, based in Bali. <\/p>\n

\n\tNordic stories often combine darkness and humor. For Anima Vitae, it feels \u201cnatural to follow this path.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt all boils down to never underestimating your audience. Kids will need to face many of these themes as they grow up. We want them to experience them through our films, in a fun setting,\u201d said Haikala.\u00a0They also recently premiered \u201cFleak\u201d<\/a> at Annecy.\u00a0The film be released in the U.S. by Impossible Dream Entertainment and The Fithian Group\u2019s theatrical distribution unit Attend.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDirector and scriptwriter Kari Juusonen, who also helmed the \u201cNiko\u201d movies, is working on story development for both projects. Screenwriter Leo Viirret will work on \u201cGhosts,\u201d while art director Mikko Pitk\u00e4nen (\u201cNiko\u201d and \u201cFleak<\/a>\u201c) is overseeing both titles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe success of \u201cNiko\u201d allowed the company to experiment a little, especially while \u201ctesting the boundaries of what content can be produced within the family space.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAt the same time, we need to be mindful of our audience. Our films only matter if the audience sees them. We need to be able to offer them a great experience as a family, in the cinema or at home,\u201d he noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c[At Anima Vitae] we have been developing a style that\u2019s not ultra-realistic \u2013 it\u2019s cinematic. We think animation is about the visual world and not some downgraded copy of it. You shouldn\u2019t just keep adding pixels to the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnimated films are more identifiable and leave more of an impression if they have a stylized look. If you have a style, it\u2019s a statement that doesn\u2019t get old quickly.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough the Finnish film industry is currently facing steep cuts, Haikala isn\u2019t giving up just yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve been around for 25 years and seen many mayhems on the road. It\u2019s always worrying, but your only option is to try and find a way through the stormy waters. So far, we\u2019ve been lucky,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have always prioritized sustainability and long-term development, and this has led us to make choices that are hopefully more long-lasting. We try to see opportunities instead of threats. And we are stubborn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Eek! Ghosts!\u2019
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDoghill Productions \/ Otava<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Finnish animation studio Anima Vitae ain\u2019t afraid of no ghosts. Or monsters.\u00a0 The company behind the successful trilogy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[100897,64,63,134,100898,100899,344,100900,100901],"class_list":["post-150044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-anima-vitae","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-finnish-film-affair","tag-fleak","tag-movies","tag-niko-u2013-beyond-the-northern-lights","tag-trash-monsters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}